Haynes Materials lends a hand to "Wheels for the World"

When Woodbury resident Joy Eusebio got a telephone call from an agency offering to donate 20 pediatric wheelchairs to Wheels for the World (an organization dedicated to collecting old wheelchairs, refurbishing them at prison workshops, then transporting them to the needy disabled around the world) that was the good news. The bad news was, 20 wheelchairs wouldn't fit in the trunk of Joy's car.

"The chairs were being stored in a whirlpool bath unit at St. Vincent's Special Needs Services of Connecticut in Trumbull, so the need to expedite the transfer was urgent," Joy said. "Haynes Materials in Oxford had offered to help me out with transportation, so I called them."

Just four days after that initial telephone call, company president Tom Haynes supplied a flatbed truck and driver, who picked up the wheelchairs at the Trumbull facility, lashed them to the truck and transported them to the Cheshire Correctional Institution, all at no charge.

"Tom Haynes is wonderful," said Joy. "He's so giving. And Chris Olson, the driver, worked so hard to secure the chairs on the truck. He didn't want to lose a single chair."

The donation was a boon to Wheels for the World, which relies on donations of used but serviceable wheelchairs and collapsible walkers to fulfill its ministry to the disabled poor. Wheelchairs sized for children are especially hard to come by.

"These 20 pediatric wheelchairs are like gold," Joy said.

Wheels for the World operates in countries where wheelchairs often cost the equivalent of a year's wages, if they are available at all. Chairs are delivered with training in their use and upkeep, along with a Christian message of hope.

As of 2004, the organization had supplied more than 25,000 refurbished wheelchairs in 60+ countries.

About Wheels for the World

Joni and Friends' flagship wheelchair outreach program, informs you on how to donate a wheelchair, crutches, canes, walkers or other rehabilitation equipment through a volunteer organization called Chair Corps. WFTW wheelchair restoration shop requirements are described along with a list of private correctional centers, state prisons and Federal prisons and penitentiaries who partner with Joni and Friends. International Mission Outreaches describes how to apply, what to expect and lists upcoming mission outreach. Wheelchair distribution advises on the three ways wheelchairs are dispensed to disabled individuals living abroad.